Facebook technology chief Bret Taylor to jump ship

Facebook's chief technology officer has announced his resignation from the company.

Bret Taylor said that he would be leaving the company in order to pursue a new business venture with a friend.

Taylor joined the company in 2009 when Facebook acquired content aggregation service FriendFeed. Prior to starting that company, he had worked with Google.

"While a transition like this is never easy, I'm extremely confident in the teams and leadership we have in place," Taylor said.

"I'm very proud of our recent accomplishments in our platform and mobile products, from Open Graph and App Center to Facebook Camera and our iOS integration."

Taylor's departure comes as Facebook looks to rebound from a disappointing initial public offering, which saw the company's stock fall flat in the midst of technical difficulties and allegations of mismanagement by executives and early investors.

Recently-filed documents show that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had questioned Facebook over details in its IPO prospectus regarding its business model and possible mobile investment earlier in the year.

In the documents, which date as far back as 28 February, SEC officials ask Facebook to clarify or describe a number of its strategic decisions and risk factors, including a possible succession plan for founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and the level of control the company gives users over their personal data.